High pressure in food processing and preservation: Principle, application and development

Summary

The treatment of foods by the hydrostatic pressure 1, 000-10, 000 bar causes protein denaturation, starch gelatinization, and inactivation of microorganisms. Therefore, the pressure is useful for the purpose of cooking, processing, sterilization, and preservation of foods, as is the high temperature. The prominent merit of the high pressure is to avoid the destruction of covalent bondings and to keep natural flavor, taste, and nutrients. This merit should be effectively applied for the production of partially-prepared foods or oven-ready foods in combination with their chilled-transportation. Recent progresses of technology support the use of high pressure in food industry. In order to develop this philosophy, the high pressure effects on biological materials should be further studied.